Schooling with a difference
With the present education system being reported as faulty, time and again – are there substitutes available?
Jyoti K. Singh
New Delhi, August 02: Education in India has become synonymous with schools. The major quality measuring criteria in lots of middle class Indian families is which school does the child studies in? And in this mad rat race of ‘being better’ private schools definitely score way ahead than the public ones. But irrespective of the setting of the school, the latter does expose young minds to a variety of superfluous things, which neither the parents nor the teachers want should happen, but they do. Moreover, the peer groups also influence a child greatly in a school. Such an environment can cause the child to divulge from his path of quality education for the mission – quality life. They can become obdurate and resolute due to the wrong influences being cast upon them.
What can come to rescue the parents in this case is the option of home schooling. This innovative concept would not only instill good moral values into the child as per the parental expectation but also would promote academic excellence. Moreover, this practice may also come handy in boosting up the confidence and self-esteem of a child in the absence of peer pressure. Furthermore, in the formal education setup, a child is strained to mug up information and facts for clearing exams. Such facts neither interest the child nor do they have any future relevance. On the other hand, in the home schooling mode of learning, the child can learn at his/her own pace for there is ample time at hand. Moreover, the children can even choose to learn the concepts they are interested in.
The concept of home schooling can benefit every student in general and the children whose mothers are homemakers in particular for the latter have an abundance of time. Furthermore, who can be a better teacher for a child than his/her own mother? Home schooling also becomes easier for the children as their parents are well aware of their interests, passion, likes and dislikes. Similarly, they also know what the child is capable of and can thus tap the latent talents of their wards well. If these talents are explored early in life, they can be worked upon thereby developing them into special skills. And with no pressure of meeting the homework and/or assignments’ guidelines, the kids can be allowed to excel at their own pace.
And the advanced technologies have added another feather in the colorful plume of home schooling. Almost a decade back, parents opting for home schooling mode of education could only depend upon text books available in some libraries but now, every information is just round the corner. Internet serves like an over-brimmed ocean of knowledge. Facilities like online reference material, counseling, tests etc have made education quite a paper-free enterprise.
Some of the popular methods of home schooling include -
- Charlotte Mason method,
- Unit Studies,
- Note book home schooling,
- Eclectic home school method Unit studies,
- Classical education method, and
- Literature based method and much more. Charlotte Mason method
The first one is a conventional method that centers on living books more than the factual, drier ones. It thus results in instilling sheer love for learning. The second one implores the parents to make their wards focus upon a particular topic at a given time.
Thus, every method listed here has some or the other core characteristic feature but all of them aim at the holistic development of an individual thus churning out a balanced personality. |
